Representatives from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas discuss the issues surrounding teacher and student competency and accountability. For each state, they review legislative policies and actions and the programs of the state education department regarding the use of competency and accountability standards. The…

The ways that historical factors, public policies, and changes in higher education have influenced quality evaluation, accreditation, and ethical practices in higher education are considered. It is suggested that during the last two decades relationships between government and voluntary accrediting agencies have become alienated. Regulatory and…

The functions and structure of postsecondary education at the state level, and goals and problems confronting statewide agencies are considered. Among the state-level functions are the following: short-range and long-range planning, establishing statewide management and information systems, review and approval of programs/centers of all state…

The role of testing has received a great deal of criticism over the years. Some steps have been taken to develop more universal items into the test. One innovation was the introduction of the multiple choice exam. Yet even with this type of aptitude test, the majority of questions and plausible answers have become quite involved and intense. All…

Many educators react defensively to demands for student assessment, accountability, and so forth. Rather than being defensive, we must turn these challenges to our advantage. If I am responsible in my work, then I ought to also be accountable for my work. We must describe what schools are expected to accomplish and show publicly whether these…

The survey reported in this document was undertaken by ERIC/ChESS in the fall of 1973 to see how social studies fits into state accountability activities. The information obtained from the nationwide survey of state departments of education revealed social studies activity in accountability to be quite limited; therefore, general accountability…

Part 2 of the "First Annual Report of the National Advisory Council on Indian Education (NACIE) to the United States Congress presents the council's advice, opinions, and comments on the recommendations of two recent and bold federal reports on Indian education--"TIndian Education: A National Tragedy--A National Challenge" and…

Accountability systems that provide rewards, sanctions, or assistance to schools based on student achievement outcomes are currently being developed and implemented in nearly every state. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe these systems, as well as to determine the degree to which publicly available documents clearly articulate…

This paper--part of a collection of 54 papers from the 48th annual conference of the Education Law Association held in November 2002--discusses high-stakes testing. Specifically, it examines the high-stakes testing program in Chicago public schools, a grade-promotion policy that uses a standardized test as the primary basis for promotion. Although…

This Howard Community College (HCC) (Maryland) 2001 Progress Report makes assessments and recommendations in the following areas: (1) creating a world class learning organization; (2) collaboration with other educational organizations; (3) collaboration with business and industry; (4) economics and workforce development; (5) preparing students as…

The federal Migrant Education Program provides supplemental instruction and support services to migrant children through grants to states under Title I, Part C, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The reauthorization of Title I in 1994 contained new requirements that Title I schools help students meet new state standards developed for…

The creation of publicly financed but relatively independent public charter schools may be the most vibrant force in American education today. This fastback presents findings of a national study that examined the outcomes of charter schools. Data were collected through site visits to 43 charter schools in 7 states (Arizona, California, Colorado,…

This report describes and compares the inclusive assessment and accountability systems of Maryland and Kentucky, with a focus on components, scoring methods, reporting practices, data use, participation of students with disabilities, testing accommodations, and implementation considerations (including cost and training issues). Maryland and…

Data from nine Michigan elementary, middle, and high schools highlight the challenges and common strategies found in the use of student assessment data to meet public demands for accountability. The information gathered from assessment tools varies by frequency and type. Educators have, historically, underutilized data to guide practice because…

This document describes the 1997-98 Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) Initiative at Spokane Community College (SCC) in Washington. The SLO mission is to define and integrate critical Student Learning Objectives and Abilities into college-wide, outcomes-based curricula so that students in all courses of study show understanding and proficiency in…